Michael Bloomberg

The latest effort to get federal regulators involved in the fight over global warming could put major American companies at risk of being charged with fraud, according to a former Securities and Exchange Commissioner.

Getting the business community on board with environmental regulations that are expected to kill hundreds of thousands of jobs is a difficult task, but Democratic operatives are working publicly and behind the scenes to build private sector support.

A super PAC with ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and financed by liberal billionaires from New York and Washington, D.C., is dropping huge sums to help reelect a vulnerable Democratic senator who has decried out-of-state influence in the race.